bible studies
How to Study the Bible
1. THE STARTING POINT: THE HEART
A. A Regenerated Heart
1. I Cor. 2:14 describes the natural man.
a. This refers to the unsaved man who does not have the Spirit. (Jude 19)
b. He receives not the things of the Spirit of God
c. He cannot know them.
d. They are foolish to him.
2. John 8:43-44 – “Ye are of your father the devil” refers to unsaved religious leaders.
a. The unsaved could not understand His speech
b. The unsaved could not hear His word
3. Rom.8:5 – they that are after the flesh – the unsaved
a. They mind the things of the flesh
b. They have no mind for the things of the Spirit
4. I Cor.1:18 – the preaching of the cross is foolishness to them that are perishing.
a. If a man is spiritually dead, he cannot know, learn, or teach the Word of God properly.
B. A Willing Heart
a. John 7:17 – There must be a willingness to obey the truth once illuminated, or illumination will not be forthcoming.
1. The Jewish leaders did not understand Jesus because they were stubborn.
2. It was not because they lacked human intelligence.
3. Their inability to understand had nothing to do with their head and everything to do with their heart.
4. This makes studying the Bible unlike any other book
5. They would not submit to Him, because they did not believe on Him.
6. Why would God provide illumination for those He knows are unwilling to respond?
b. Rev.2:7,11,17,29; 3:6,13,22 – He that hath an ear to hear let him hear.
1. God acknowledges that some people have an “ear to hear” and others don’t.
2. This is not a hearing problem, but a heart problem.
3. Those who refuse to hear (refuse to learn; close their ears) not only WILL not learn, they will be judged.
4. God expects us to be receptive to His still small voice… through the Word.
5. Those who WILL not hear are willingly ignorant.
C. A Meek and Submissive Heart
a. Psalm 25:9 – “The meek will He teach.”
1. Meekness implies a humble, teachable spirit (not a proud know-it-all)
2. God teaches the teachable; He knows the difference.
b. Jas.1:21 – receive with meekness the engrafted word.
1. We ought to be willing to hear what the Word has to say about our faults and weaknesses, and be GLAD that they are being pointed out… taking it patiently and thankfully.
c. Matt. 11:28-30 – The meek man is one who has been brought under the yoke of Christ and is willing to submit himself to Christ as Lord.
1. Vs.28 – Initially, we come to Christ in faith and receive salvation rest.
2. Vs.29 – Then we come to Christ and submit to His yoke.
3. It is only as we meekly submit to the One who Himself is meek and lowly, that we will ever truly LEARN of Him.
4. Learning and meekness go hand in hand.
5. A meek, tamed, docile spirit is not natural to us.
6. It is our nature to be headstrong, defiant, brazen, and self willed. That spirit needs to be dealt with, and God’s method is the cross. He doesn’t tame our spirit. He puts it to death.
7. Meekness is never ours until the heart, which is naturally elated and filled with pride, has been humbled and subdued… crucified with Christ… and left on the cross by faith.
8. It is only the new creature that is humble and meek, and thus, able to learn.
D. A Reverential Heart
a. Psalm 25:12 – God teaches those who fear Him.
1. The question he asks suggests that there aren’t many men who truly fear the Lord.
b. Psalm 25:14 – The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him
c. Ps. 119:161 – my heart standeth in awe of thy word.
1. We might liken this to your first gaze at the Grand Canyon. Standing on its rim, there is a bit of fear…(one false move and you’re dead!). You fear and respect the potential danger, but stand in awe of its beauty and glory.
d. Isa. 66:2 – God looks to the one who trembles at His Word.
1. Trembling is the right heart attitude towards God’s Word.
2. What do you think it means to “tremble” before it? Why would we tremble?
e. Prov. 1:7-The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge
1. As we open God’s Word, our hearts should stand in awe… in utter reverence and respect.
2. We should fear mistreating the Word misunderstanding the Word… or disobeying the Word.
3. It is not to be approached as you would approach any other book.
4. It is not like a crossword puzzle, or a mind game used to entertain or to occupy time. This is GOD’S Word.
5. If we do not approach God’s Word with the right spirit, we will not learn from God.
E. A Hungry Heart
a. Hos. 6:3 -Then shall we know if we follow on to know…
1. 4:1,6 – Their problems stemmed from a “lack of knowledge” of who God is. They didn’t know God or His Word.
2. Therefore, Hosea exhorts his countrymen to turn to the Lord.
3. This expression might be understood in the following sense: “Let us know, let us pursue to know Yahweh.”
4. It speaks of an all-out pursuit of God… a whole hearted pursuit; a hungering after Him; a hungering to know Him
5. The knowledge the prophet calls for is not theoretical. It is more than just information.
6. He calls for an experiential and a practical knowledge which includes obedience and spiritual growth.
b. Psalm 19:7-10 – “More to be desired are they than gold…”
1. God’s Word is to be desired… longed for…
2. It is longed for when we understand its value.
3. When we understand its value, we will seek it as the treasure that it is.
c. God makes Himself known to those He knows really want to know Him. And He makes Himself known through the Word.
d. Jer.15:16 – God’s Word was found and I did eat it; it was the joy and rejoicing of his heart. The hungry heart EATS the Word… and loves it.
1. Those who feed on the chaff of this world will not be hungry for the Word.
2. If you don’t hunger and eat, you will not learn the Word of God. Hunger drives eating.
F. A Clean Heart
a. Jas. 1:21 –
b. Put away sinful thoughts and actions.
1. Put away = put off (as in changing clothes; used of putting off the old conversation)
1. And when you look into the mirror of the Word and see dirt, get rid of it!
2. If we are unwilling to remove the dirt God shows us in His Word, why would He want to show us any more?
2. Receive: We are to RECEIVE the word.
1. Sometimes that is painful when it points out dirt in our lives. But it is to be received anyway.
2. Note that putting away sin precedes receiving the Word.
3. The engrafted word = planted like a seed.
1. The purpose of receiving the Word is that it might bear FRUIT in us… not just that we might increase in intellectual knowledge of the book.
4. Our ability to learn the Word is related to cleanliness.
1. If we do not lay aside the filthiness, then we will not be able to see and learn.
2. You might liken this to dirty eye glasses. You can see somewhat through dirty glasses, but if you want to see clearly, the glass needs to be clean.
3. The unsaved can learn the Bible intellectually without even being saved. Surely there is sin in their hearts.
4. But to TRULY learn the Word, requires a clean heart, for true learning is from the Lord. It is being taught by God Himself through His Word.
5. When we receive the Word the right way (having put away filthiness), our SOULS are saved.
1. This does not refer to justification. He is talking to “brethren” (saved).
2. He is speaking about the power of the Word of God in the life of a believer to deliver us from the present power of sin. (victory)
3. This is not simply an intellect pursuit or academic learning. This is learning the Word experientially, by practicing the Word.
c. James 1:21 – We must lay apart all filthiness before we are able to receive the Word.
1. The phrase, “the engrafted word” likens the Scriptures to a planted seed.
2. Ability to learn the Word is related to cleanliness.
d. I Pet.2:1-3 – We must lay aside all malice and evil before we will ever desire the sincere milk of the Word (same word as put away in James 1:21)
e. I John 1:9 – All sins must be confessed. This is necessary on a daily basis to maintain a clean heart, for our hearts are polluted daily.
f. Proverbs 28:13 – All sin must be confessed and forsaken.
G. An Obedient Heart
a. Jas. 1:22 – Be ye doers of the Word.
1. The word of God is not learned until we are DOING what it says.
b. Learning involves much more than simply being able to memorize a verse, repeat it to others verbatim. Learning requires putting it into practice… DOING.
c. James 1:22 – Willing to be DOERS of the Word.
1. God gives us understanding in His Word for a purpose: that we might OBEY.
2. The Bible is not to be studied just so that we can figure out what it means in order to satisfy our curiosity.
3. It is to be studied to be put into practice… to be lived.
d. Ps. 119:33 – Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.
e. Ps. 86:11 – Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.
f. Psalm 119:33-34 – The psalmist expected God to give him understanding because he was determined to keep God’s law and observe it with his whole heart. All others need not apply!
ü Ps. 66:18 – If we regard iniquity in our hearts, the Lord will not hear us. He will not hear our prayer to TEACH us in His Word.
ü Why should God show us His will and ways in His Word unless we are willing to DO what He says?
ü Remember, true Bible learning comes from God, not a book or human intellect.
H. An Undivided Heart
a. Matt.6:22 – The “single eye”
ü The light of the body is the eye
ü The light (lamp or lens) = the eye gate.
ü Just as light enters a camera through the lens, so light enters into a human body through the eye. The eye is our only channel of vision.
ü A single eye is full of light
ü Light speaks of truth and understanding
ü A single eye speaks of single minded allegiance to Christ.
ü A heart that is single minded in its allegiance to Christ will be full of light and understanding
b. Matt. 6:23 – The “evil eye.”
ü In context, the evil eye is the opposite of a single eye. (double vision – not focused on a single object)
1. If the eye is evil (bad), then the body is full of darkness. The only channel of light is malfunctioning. (Used of bad fruit – not a good, fresh quality; Matt. 7:17)
2. In the same way, our heart is the only channel of divine truth. If our heart is evil (bad; not functioning properly) then we too will walk in darkness.
3. In context, the malfunction to which Jesus refers is a divided heart… divided allegiance.
ü An evil eye is full of darkness.
ü Darkness speaks of ignorance.
c. If the eye is evil, then the body is full darkness. The eye (the body’s only gateway for light) is malfunctioning.
ü In the same way, our heart is the only gateway for divine truth. If our heart is evil (bad; not functioning properly) then we too will walk in darkness.
ü A malfunctioning heart will blind us to truth.
ü In context, the malfunction to which Jesus refers is a divided allegiance.
ü Divided treasures (vs.19); divided masters (vs.24); a divided eye or heart (vs.22)
1. Our heart (eye) is divided when its allegiance is divided between Christ and the world or mammon.
2. If our heart is allegiant to the world, we will not grasp spiritual truth… heavenly things. They will seem foolish to us because we are behaving like a natural man.
3. When our eye (focus of our heart) is obsessed with earthly, material things, we will not understand spiritual things. Our ability to understand spiritual truth depends upon the spiritual condition of our heart.
4. If we want LIGHT from God to shine upon us (illumination) our hearts need to be in good shape spiritually.
5. If that is not the case, then we will experience darkness… an inability to truly grasp spiritual truths.
d. Ps. 86:11 – Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.
1. Here the psalmist prays that God would teach him AND unite his heart.
2. “Unite my heart” speaks of single minded allegiance.
3. He desired a greater degree of single minded allegiance.
4. That is the person who is qualified to ask God to teach him His ways.
5. If that is the desire of our heart – to have a heart that has ONE Master, the Lord will teach us… and grant us even more dedication to Him.
I. A Trusting Heart
a. Psalm119:66 – The one who trusts God can expect to be taught of God.
1. He prays for discernment here.
2. FOR: the fact that he believes (trusts) God is the basis upon which he asks and expects a positive response.
3. The one who trusts in the Lord will receive discernment. Discernment is needed in studying the Bible.
4. Without discernment (common sense; wisdom) serious Bible blunders will be made.
b. The one who trusts God can expect to be taught of God.
ü The psalmist asks God, “Teach me good judgment and knowledge FOR I have believed thy commandments.
c. Prov.3:5 – Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart
1. If we lean on our own understanding, we are forsaking the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit.
2. Our own understanding is the “mind of the flesh.” The flesh is spiritually blind and ignorant.
3. In this context, trusting in the Lord is the opposite of leaning on one’s own understanding.
4. Spiritual truth is learned through faith, not intellect alone.
d. Heb.11:3 – Through faith we understand… Some truths are learned only through faith.
J. A Loving Heart (for Christ)
a. Teaching involves being able to say, “I KNOW whom I have believed…” (II Tim.1:12) [Note: not what I believe]
b. The goal of studying and learning the word ought to be to know Him, for it is the Word of Christ. (Phil.3:10)
c. Love is willing to sacrifice. (Phil.3:8)
d. A love for Christ will motivate us to want to spend time in His Word that we might know HIM in a deeper way.
e. Deut. 13:3 – God used false prophets to TEST His people to see if they truly loved Him or not. Our love for the Lord is connected to our love of the truth. When we start dabbling in other “sources” of truth, we demonstrate a lack of love for the Lord. It is like flirting with another lover.
f. Eph.3:17-19 – a deep rooted love for Christ is required that we might “comprehend” the depth of His love. In this case, spiritual comprehension is conditioned upon our love for Christ.
g. The reason we study and learn the Bible is that we might know Christ… and express our love to Him. He knows if we are studying the Word with the right motive. We study to increase our RELATIONSHIP to Him… not just to increase data in our heads.
K. A Loving Heart (for the Word)
a. Ps.119:97 – “O how love I thy law!”
b. Ps. 1:2 – his delight is in the Word. That’s why he meditates on it day and night.
c. God knows if we love His Word or not. He teaches those who really LONG to know Him and His Word.
d. Learning comes through loving.
e. Learning the Word is an exercise of the heart as much as an exercise of the head
